A rapid point of care CC16 kit for screening of occupational silica dust exposed workers for early detection of silicosis/silico-tuberculosis.

Silicosis is an irreversible, incurable and progressive occupational disease caused by prolonged exposure to crystalline-silica dust while working in the relevant industries. Conventionally diagnosis is done by chest radiology, often in an advanced stage as early symptoms often go unnoticed. Early detection and necessary intervention (secondary prevention) could be a realistic possible control strategy for controlling silicosis as no effective treatment is available to stop and/or reverse the pathological process. Additionally, these patients are also vulnerable to pulmonary tuberculosis, which often becomes difficult to treat and with uncertain treatment outcome. Considering India has a huge burden of silicosis and silico-tuberculosis, a rapid and inexpensive screening method was realized to be an urgent need for early detection of silicosis among silica dust exposed workers. Serum club cell protein 16 (CC16) is evidenced to be a useful proxy screening marker for early detection of silicosis as evidenced from the recent research work of ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health (ICMR-NIOH), India. In this study a lateral-flow assay for semi-quantitative estimation of serum CC16 level was developed. The detection was performed using gold nanoparticles conjugated anti-CC16 monoclonal antibodies. A sum of 106 serum samples was tested to do the performance evaluation of the assay. A concentration of 6 ng/ml or less produced one band, 6.1-9 ng/ml produced two bands, while more than 9 ng/ml produced all the three bands at the test zone. The sensitivity of the assay was 100% while the specificity was 95%. This assay may be used as a sensitive tool for periodic screening of silica dust exposed vulnerable workers for early detection of silicosis in them.

The Importance of Nanomedicine in Prophylactic and Theranostic Intervention of Bacterial Zoonoses and Reverse Zoonoses in the Era of Microbial Resistance.

Emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR), extensively drug resistance (XDR) and pandrug resistance (PDR) strains of bacteria in communicable diseases of zoonotic and reverse zoonotic importance is the major hurdle of one health concept. Increasing level of resistance against antibiotics among bacterial population throughout the world, slow pace of new antibacterial drug discovery and enhanced pace of resistance development by pathogenic bacteria possess major challenges for human and animal health as well as life in future. Alternative management strategy in terms of improved prophylactic vaccine; early, easy and effective diagnostics and therapeutic drugs against those resistant bacteria is the need of the hour. In this context nanomedicine can fit into the multifaceted demands as an effective prophylactic and theranostic alternative to control the communicable diseases in a cost effective manner in the era of microbial resistance. The current review is focused towards delineating the application of nanomaterials as vaccine or drug delivery system, diagnostics and directly acting antimicrobial therapeutic agents in combating the important zoonotic and reverse zoonotic bacterial diseases in recent scenario along with their potential benefits, limitations and future prospects to formulate successful eradication strategies.

Development of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube-Based Immunobiosensor for the Detection of Bluetongue Virus.

Bluetongue (BT) disease is a noncontagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants (mainly sheep, cattle, deer) caused by the bluetongue virus (BTV) which is an orbivirus of the Reoviridae family and transmitted by vector Culicoides biting midges. It is a reportable disease of considerable socioeconomic concern and of major importance for the international trade of animals and animal products. Conventional diagnostic methods, such as virus propagation and isolation, immunoassays and also various molecular methods have been developed for the detection of the BTV. Here, we present a novel, rapid and pen-side test for the detection of BTV using multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) based immunosensor. Though it is not reported yet. The MWCNTs were prepared, characterized and functionalized with carboxyl group. Viral antibodies were conjugated successfully with functionalized MWCNTs and coated on screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE). These SPCE were evaluated by using electrochemical sensor with an antigen specific to BTV antibodies, resulted in the self-assembled layer of antigen-antibody on the surface of SPCE. The approach described in the present study is a prototype for the development of simple and economic diagnostic tool which will provide the routine screening of BT disease at the door of farmers, thereby increasing the income of farmers by decreasing the cost of diagnosis.

Vaccines and Therapies in Development for SARS-CoV-2 Infections.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The virus causes severe respiratory symptoms which manifest disproportionately in the elderly. Currently, there are over 6.5 million cases and 380,000 deaths reported. Given the current severity of the outbreak, there is a great need for antiviral therapies and vaccines to treat and prevent COVID-19. In this review, we provide an overview of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the emerging therapies and vaccines that show promise in combating COVID-19. We also highlight potential viral targets that could be exploited by researchers and drug manufacturers.

An Insight into Nanomedicinal Approaches to Combat Viral Zoonoses.

BACKGROUND: Emerging viral zoonotic diseases are one of the major obstacles to secure the "One Health" concept under the current scenario. Current prophylactic, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches often associated with certain limitations and thus proved to be insufficient for customizing rapid and efficient combating strategy against the highly transmissible pathogenic infectious agents leading to the disastrous socio-economic outcome. Moreover, most of the viral zoonoses originate from the wildlife and poor knowledge about the global virome database renders it difficult to predict future outbreaks. Thus, alternative management strategy in terms of improved prophylactic vaccines and their delivery systems; rapid and efficient diagnostics and effective targeted therapeutics are the need of the hour. METHODS: Structured literature search has been performed with specific keywords in bibliographic databases for the accumulation of information regarding current nanomedicine interventions along with standard books for basic virology inputs. RESULTS: Multi-arrayed applications of nanomedicine have proved to be an effective alternative in all the aspects regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and control of zoonotic viral diseases. The current review is focused to outline the applications of nanomaterials as anti-viral vaccines or vaccine/drug delivery systems, diagnostics and directly acting therapeutic agents in combating the important zoonotic viral diseases in the recent scenario along with their potential benefits, challenges and prospects to design successful control strategies. CONCLUSION: This review provides significant introspection towards the multi-arrayed applications of nanomedicine to combat several important zoonotic viral diseases.

Nano-antimicrobials: A New Paradigm for Combating Mycobacterial Resistance.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium group contains several pathogenic bacteria including M. tuberculosis where the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is alarming for human and animal health around the world. The condition has further aggravated due to the speed of discovery of the newer drugs has been outpaced by the rate of resistance developed in microorganisms, thus requiring alternative combat strategies. For this purpose, nano-antimicrobials have emerged as a potential option. OBJECTIVE: The current review is focused on providing a detailed account of nanocarriers like liposome, micelles, dendrimers, solid lipid NPs, niosomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nano-suspensions, nano-emulsion, mesoporous silica and alginate-based drug delivery systems along with the recent updates on developments regarding nanoparticle-based therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostic methods developed or under pipeline with their potential benefits and limitations to combat mycobacterial diseases for their successful eradication from the world in future. RESULTS: Distinct morphology and the underlying mechanism of pathogenesis and resistance development in this group of organisms urge improved and novel methods for the early and efficient diagnosis, treatment and vaccination to eradicate the disease. Recent developments in nanotechnology have the potential to meet both the aspects: nano-materials are proven components of several efficient targeted drug delivery systems and the typical physicochemical properties of several nano-formulations have shown to possess distinct bacteriocidal properties. Along with the therapeutic aspects, nano-vaccines and theranostic applications of nano-formulations have grown in popularity in recent times as an effective alternative means to combat different microbial superbugs. CONCLUSION: Nanomedicine holds a bright prospect to perform a key role in global tuberculosis elimination program.

Nanotherapeutics: An insight into healthcare and multi-dimensional applications in medical sector of the modern world.

In recent years nanotechnology has revolutionized the healthcare strategies and envisioned to have a tremendous impact to offer better health facilities. In this context, medical nanotechnology involves design, fabrication, regulation, and application of therapeutic drugs and devices having a size in nano-range (1-100 nm). Owing to the revolutionary implications in drug delivery and gene therapy, nanotherapeutics has gained increasing research interest in the current medical sector of the modern world. The areas which anticipate benefits from nano-based drug delivery systems are cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, blood disorders and orthopedic problems. The development of nanotherapeutics with multi-functionalities has considerable potential to fill the lacunae existing in the present therapeutic domain. Nanomedicines in the field of cancer management have enhanced permeability and retention of drugs thereby effectively targeting the affected tissues. Polymeric conjugates of asparaginase, polymeric micelles of paclitaxel have been recmended for various types of cancer treatment .The advancement of nano therapeutics and diagnostics can provide the improved effectiveness of the drug with less or no toxicity concerns. Similarly, diagnostic imaging is having potential future applications with newer imaging elements at nano level. The newly emerging field of nanorobotics can provide new directions in the field of healthcare. In this article, an attempt has been made to highlight the novel nanotherapeutic potentialities of polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticle, nanostructured lipid carriers, dendrimers, nanocapsules and nanosponges based approaches. The useful applications of these nano-medicines in the field of cancer, nutrition, and health have been discussed in details. Regulatory and safety concerns along with the commercial status of nanosystems have also been presented. In summary, a successful translation of emerging nanotherapeutics into commercial products may lead to an expansion of biomedical science. Towards the end of the review, future perspectives of this important field have been introduced briefly.